Monday, February 20, 2012

Presidentia

“When you have got an elephant by the hind leg, and he is trying to run away, it’s best to let him run.”

—Abraham Lincoln (1806-1865), 16th U.S. president

“PETA is not happy that my dog likes fresh air.”

—Mitt Romney, on why he strapped his dog to the roof his car for a 12-hour roadtrip to Canada

“In my White House, we will know who wears the pantsuits.”

—Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State and 2008 presidential candidate on her husband’s role in her administration

“I have come to the conclusion that the major part of the work of a President is to increase the gate receipts of expositions and fairs and bring tourists to town.”

—William Howard Taft (1857-1930), 27th U.S. president

“[L]adies and gentlemen of the press corps, Madame First Lady, Mr. President, my name is Stephen Colbert, and tonight it is my privilege to celebrate this president, ‘cause we’re not so different, he and I. We both get it. Guys like us, we're not some brainiacs on the nerd patrol. We’re not members of the factinista. We go straight from the gut. Right, sir? That's where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up.”

“The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away.”

—Ronald Reagan (1911-2004), 40th U.S. president

“The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing, but newspapers.”

—Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 3rd U.S. president

“There is a terrific disadvantage in not having the abrasive quality of the press applied to you daily. Even though we never like it, and even though we wish they didn’t write it, and even though we disapprove, there isn’t any doubt that we could not do the job at all in a free society without a very, very active press.”

—John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), 35th president

• Editorial Comment: Remember, in a free society, you are what you eat.